Sony Music sues Thriller over licensing rights

After announcing that Thriller has raised over $300 million in funding since its 2019 release and recently completed the acquisition of the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, Sony Music has filed a copyright infringement and breach of contract lawsuit alleging it fails to pay for the artist’s work. . songs To use in the app.

Sony Music claims that Thriller signed a content distribution deal in 2016 and signed a revised version in December 2021, but stopped paying licensing fees as part of the deal.

“Thriller is a sophisticated party that claims to take its intellectual property rights seriously when it benefits Thriller,” attorney Matthew Oppenheim wrote in the complaint, incorporated below. “While elevating the importance and value of ‘innovative technology and intellectual property’ and stating that it hopes to curb copyright infringement, it ‘will set a precedent for us and all content creators that theft is unacceptable.’ Thriller shows blatant disregard for the intellectual property rights of Sony Music, its artists and others.”

Sony claims that Thriller “has historically not made payments on time”, but recently the problem has “intensified”.

“As of March 2022, Thriller failed to make the monthly payments required by the agreement, totaling millions of dollars. Failure to pay license fees is a breach of contract,” Oppenheim wrote. “After months of Sony Music demanding that Thriller pay late and late fees and near-complete radio silence in response, Sony Music informed Thriller on July 22, 2022 that it was materially in breach of the agreement. After Thriller failed to substantially respond, let alone remedy its breach of contract through payment, Sony Music terminated the contract on August 8, 2022.

Without a deal, Sony claimed that Thriller lost the rights to use its music, but continued to offer it on the app.

Thriller shipped tuesday the hollywood reporter This statement in response to the lawsuit: “We have not yet been notified, but as we have seen, this lawsuit by Sony Music grossly misrepresents our relationship with them and leans towards the intimidating personality for which major labels are often criticized.” record labels We are focused on developing the creative economy and will continue to seek a contract that achieves this goal. If necessary, we will defend our case in court.”

The company also says that “the process of removing the music catalog is not instantaneous”, and as of today, “all identifiable Sony music has been removed from Thriller”.

Meanwhile, Sony has criticized Thriller for its explosive growth and acquisitions of platforms like Julius and Fangage, leaving millions unpaid. “In the same months that Thriller stopped paying licensing fees to Sony Music, it began to fall prey to takeovers,” the complaint reads. “In press releases announcing these acquisitions, Thriller referred to its app as an ‘Open Garden Technology Platform for Creators’ and highlighted the benefits the acquisition would have for Thriller creators. During that time, Thriller neglected its contractual payment obligations, which prevented Sony Music from compensating its creators, the world-class artists and performers who created Thriller soundtracks for incorporation into their clients’ videos, for the use of their music. by Thriller.

It is the latest in a series of financial complaints filed against the potential rival of TikTok, two weeks after Timbaland and Swizz Beatz sued, claiming they owe tens of millions in the settlement. verzuz. Thriller alleges that the producers have already received more than $50 million in cash and supplies, and that the amounts in dispute are unfulfilled income taxes.

Thriller aims to go public in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to Monday’s announcement. He recently filed a confidential S1 with the SEC stating that his password will be “ILLR”.